Peanut aspiration: an avoidable life-threatening condition

Foreign body aspiration is a potentially fatal condition. Yet, an accurate diagnosis may not be easy. Management is also challenging and requires a high level of expertise with proper instruments. In this article, we report our experience in the management of peanut aspiration in two young children by means of a ventilating bronchoscope.published_or_final_versio

Involvement of macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) in graft-versus-host disease (GvHD)

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The first report of a single-port laparoscopic nephrectomy in a child

There has been an exponential rise in the use of minimally invasive procedures in surgery, with obvious benefts to patients. Recently, transumbilical single-port laparoscopic surgery has been championed as the next major technical advance. In this article, we report the frst case where single-port laparoscopic surgery has been used to manage a paediatric problem in the region.published_or_final_versio

Osteopontin in rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthrits

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microRNA-29b prevents liver fibrosis by attenuating hepatic stellate cell activation and inducing apoptosis through targeting PI3K/AKT pathway

microRNA-29b (miR-29b) is known to be associated with TGF-β-mediated fibrosis, but the mechanistic action of miR-29b in liver fibrosis remains unclear and is warranted for investigation. We found that miR-29b was significantly downregulated in human and mice fibrotic liver tissues and in primary activated HSCs. miR-29b downregulation was directly mediated by Smad3 through binding to the promoter of miR-29b in hepatic stellate cell (HSC) line LX1, whilst miR-29b could in turn suppress Smad3 expression. miR-29b transduction in the liver of mice prevented CCl4 induced-fibrogenesis, concomitant with decreased expression of α-SMA, collagen I and TIMP-1. Ectopic expression of miR-29b in activated HSCs (LX-1, HSC-T6) inhibited cell viability and colony formation, and caused cell cycle arrest in G1 phase by downregulating cyclin D1 and p21cip1. Further, miR-29b induced apoptosis in HSCs mediated by caspase-9 and PARP. miR-29b inhibited its downstream effectors of PIK3R1 and AKT3 through direct targeting their 3'UTR regions. Moreover, knockdown of PIK3R1 or AKT3 suppressed α-SMA and collagen I and induced apoptosis in both HSCs and in mice. In conclusion, miR-29b prevents liver fibrogenesis by inhibiting HSC activation and inducing HSC apoptosis through inhibiting PI3K/AKT pathway. These results provide novel mechanistic insights for the anti-fibrotic effect of miR-29b.published_or_final_versio

Outcomes of Re-Intervention for Laparoscopic Transperitoneal Pyeloplasty in Children

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Macrophage migration inhibitory factor expression in male and female ethanol-fed rats

Macrophage migration inhibitory factory (MIF) regulates macrophage accumulation at sites of injury and can promote the inflammatory response. We studied MIF expression in the intragastric feeding rat model for alcoholic liver injury. Male and age-matched female rats were fed ethanol or dextrose with fish oil. Two groups of male rats were fed medium-chain triglycerides with ethanol or dextrose. Analysis of liver histopathology, lipid peroxidation, endotoxin, mRNA, and immunohistochemistry for MIF, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interferon-γ (IFN-γ) were carried out. Male and female rats fed fish oil and ethanol showed necroinflammatory liver injury and had the highest expression of MIF, TNF-α, and IFN-γ in the liver. Decreased levels of MIF protein were seen in rats with higher endotoxin levels, suggesting that preformed MIF is released into the circulation. MIF is an important mediator of the inflammatory response in alcoholic liver disease and a potential therapeutic target.published_or_final_versio